1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to solar cells, and more particularly to a light concentrator designed to collect the light that would normally be reflected or fall on the front electrode grid lines and redirect it into the solar cell to thereby increase the efficiency of the cell.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Conventional solar cells have a top surface which is partially covered by thin grid lines. These grid lines as a whole comprise the top or front electrode of the solar cell. At a minimum, the grid lines are arranged to cover only 6% of the surface, but even with that small coverage, they will block 6% of the light from entering into the solar cell and becoming useful, i.e. being converted into electrical current. If a light concentrator were designed to collect the light that would normally fall on the grid lines and redirect it into the cell, at least a 6% increase in the output of the solar cell could be attained. Conventional solar cell coverslides have flat, smooth, surfaces with an antireflection coating on top. In spite of this antireflecting layer, about 3% of the useful light is lost to the cell by reflection from the coverslide. The light concentrator design can be chosen so as to reduce this reflection loss to almost zero. The net increase of the light concentrator on a solar cell would therefore be at least 9% and more likely close to 12%.